Sonoraville’s third-quarter surge leads way to tourney win
Walraven, others get hot after halftime, use momentum to advance past Darlington
— Basketball is a four-quarter game, but often times one quarter can tilt the outcome one way or the other. On Wednesday night, that was the third quarter for Sonoraville as they dominated the period to lead the way to an impressive 60-43 victory over Darlington in the Rome News- Tribune Christmas Tournament quarterfinals.
The Phoenix (9-0) were tied at 23-23 at the half in the contest at Georgia Highlands, but after Darlington (3-2) hit a free throw to start the third, Sonoraville reeled off 12 straight points for a game-changing run, which included eight points from Wil Walraven. The senior standout scored a game-high 28 points in the victory and hit four 3s to give him 54 points and eight 3s through the first two games of the tournament.
Sonoraville coach Brent Mashburn said he felt good at the half being tied, and he was proud of the way his team came out of the locker room to take control of the game highlighted by Walraven’s impressive performance.
“I told them at the half that we were in a pretty good spot being tied after missing some easy ones and turning the ball over a few times in the first half,” said Mashburn. “We thought if we pressured (Darlington) in the second half and sped them up, it would work to our advantage and it did. We made them work hard for everything they got on offense in the second half. We really made them work, and then we were able to make some shots.
“Wil is a kid that can score in bunches and in a lot of different ways. He was big in helping push the lead out some by getting those quick buckets in a row in the third, and that really made it tough on them to come back after we got a good lead. He is really good and doing that and changing the momentum of a game.”
The Phoenix went out to outscore Darlington 20-8 in the third quarter to take a 43-31 lead to the final period. They then closed things out with a 17-12 advantage in the fourth quarter, including going 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Sonoraville hit six 3s in the second half total.
Walraven wasn’t the only Phoenix scorer with a solid night as Landon Jones came off the bench to score 13 points, including a trio of 3s. Trent Daniel added 11 points. Mashburn said that has been the recipe all year with different guys coming through on different nights.
“That’s been us all year,” said Mashburn. “It’s been somebody different to go with Wil almost every night. We have a lot of guys that have stepped up, and that’s what it takes to be a good team. I feel like I’ve got so many guys on this roster that can do a lot of different things on the court.”
Darlington jumped out to a 15-11 lead after the first quarter before Sonoraville fought back to tie things at the half. The Tigers were led by Sam Tackeberry and JD Hull, who each scored 12 points. Tackeberry’s all came on his four made 3s. Griffin Brewster added nine.
Not only did the victory keep Sonoraville unbeaten in the early season, it pushed them into the Tournament semifinals where they faced Rome on Thursday night at Berry College. (For details on that game, see Wednesday’s Calhoun Times.)
“This is exciting,” said Mashburn. “This is been a new atmosphere and scene for us, but it’s been really good so far. I expect as we move on later in the tournament, it’s just going to keep getting better. Those big moments and big atmospheres are why you coach and why you play, and I think it will really benefit us down the road.”
In earlier RN-T Christmas Tournament action:
Sonoraville boys 55, Woodland 52 ROME
— Sonoraville got off to a great start on Friday, but they had to fight tooth and nail from that point on against a gritty Woodland team in order to survive and advance at the Rome News-Tribune Christmas Tournament at Georgia Highlands.
The Phoenix jumped out to an 18-6 lead after one quarter in their first-ever appearance in the tradition-rich holiday tournament, but Woodland had no plans of going away easily as they came back and went basket for basked over the final three quarters.
A clutch sequence, however, on the offensive and defense ends for Sonoraville allowed them to pull out a 55-52 victory and advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.